Itoko
by Seadrance
Summary: Oneshot. A six year old meets her cousin for the first time, and finds that Gaara isn't quite what she expected. GaaraOC familial fluff; possible continuation.


**Warnings: _(hopefully very) Slight OOC, a swear word, and an OC. _**

**Eh, just an idea that plagued me for a while and begged to be written. Yes, pretty much a pointless fluff-bundle, but it's been sitting on my computer for a while, and I thought I may as well post it. Please read the Authors Notes at the end, and enjoy reading!**

**Tess**

* * *

Hisoka was a happy girl, because she was going to see her Otou-san today! 

It wasn't often that she got to see her Otou-san, he had to look after her cousin after all, and her cousin was the Kazekage's son, so she had to wait her turn. It didn't mean that she wasn't jealous of her cousin, she was very jealous, but she was also very happy to see her Otou-san again.

She hadn't seen her Otou-san in a week, because they lived too far away from the Kazekage's home. They was her Okaa-san and she, and they lived towards the outskirts of Sunagakure no Sato. Hotaru was her Okaa-san's name, her Okaa-san was a ninja too! She wanted to be a ninja just like Okaa-san, but right now, the only thought on her mind, was of her Otou-san.

He was _her_ Otou-san, because she didn't want to share him with _anyone_, and even if she did, she wanted her cousin to know that he was _her_ Otou-san.

Okaa-san had taken her to the local park, well, the most local one in that district, and had left her there, because her Otou-san had promised he'd pick her up at exactly the same time as her Okaa-san left her there, but he wasn't there yet, so she was swinging.

She liked swings, you could swing high above everyone and look down, and see them. You could feel the wind in your hair, you could laugh at the wind as you swung back down, the silly wind, trying to push you off weakly. The wind was playful, and she loved to play.

She wasn't worried, Otou-san was usually late, and always apologised, saying that he'd had to chase her cousin somewhere, or take him some place. Usually, she pouted, and he'd buy her an ice-cream. She loved her Otou-san, because he was always really friendly and kind, and even though he wasn't allowed to live with them, and see her every day, she knew that when her cousin was old enough, her Otou-san would come home, and she and Okaa-san and Otou-san would all live together happily.

Okaa-san always got a funny look on her face when Hisoka said that, but Hisoka knew that her Okaa-san missed her Otou-san, and that mentioning him was probably sad for her, so she tried not to talk about Otou-san too much at home. She always talked about Otou-san when she was alone though, she'd chat away to the wind, because the wind would listen, then wipe away the traces, and Okaa-san would never know.

"Gomen, Hisoka-chan."

She grinned, there was her Otou-san! She had sandy hair, like him, and like his Okaa-san, he'd said. She had her Okaa-san's pretty eyes though, but she didn't wanna think about Okaa-san now. Okaa-san made her eat dead animals, and go to bed at the same time every night. She didn't like eating animals, she liked playing with them, animals were so cute! She really liked the birds she'd seen, they were flying with the wind, probably telling secrets she'd never hear because the wind was so good at keeping them.

"Otou-san!" she shrieked, taking one last swing and jumping off the swing while it was in mid air.

Her Otou-san smiled quietly, Otou-san was quiet, but he was very nice. He didn't even scold her for jumping like that, Okaa-san always scolded her for doing fun things like that, telling her she had to be careful. Okaa-san worried too much.

"How is my little secret?" he asked, sweeping her off the ground and hugging her, before putting her back down.

That was another reason she liked the wind, the wind kept secrets safe, and she was a secret.

She giggled, and hugged her Otou-san's leg. "I'm good, Tou-san! You're late again!"

"Gomen, Hisoka-chan," he knelt as she released his leg. "But I had to ask Kazekage-sama if I could come to see you, he forgot that I always come to see you today, you see, and he wanted me to look after your itoko."

She pouted. "Kazekage's silly."

Her Otou-san laughed.

"You shouldn't say things like that, Hisoka-chan," he scolded (but not really, because his eyes were smiling). "It's very rude to talk about people like that, especially Kazekage-sama."

"That's a silly rule," she said, pouting.

He smiled again.

"Hisoka-chan, today I want you to meet someone," her Otou-san said.

She tilted her head, eyes wide and curious. "Who?"

"Gaara-sama, please come here."

She watched with mounting curiousity as a small red-headed boy appeared. He was about her age, she guessed, but she wouldn't really know that much, there weren't many children on the outskirts, but Okaa-san hadn't told her why before. The other children were all older than her, and often teased her, because her Otou-san didn't live with her. She didn't care, but it did hurt a little, because her Otou-san loved her, and they didn't know that.

The boy was pale, and she wondered if he was from Suna, because he was so pale. Everyone she knew had dark skin, except her Otou-san, he was pale, but his Okaa-san was from a different place, a place where the sun wasn't so hot, so she guessed he looked like that because his Okaa-san did. She wondered why her Otou-san had called him 'Gaara-sama', why was he being so respectful? Maybe he was the son of one of the important people who visited the silly Kazekage, and the silly Kazekage had told her Otou-san to look after him as well as her itoko.

The boy looked shyly between the two. He looked a little jealous, why was he jealous? This was _her _Otou-san!

He came closer, so that he was standing just a little way away from Hisoka, who was now trying to figure out why he would be jealous.

"Hisoka-chan, this is Gaara-sama, he's your cousin," her Otou-san said softly.

Hisoka looked at him, the Gaara boy, he looked nothing like her Otou-san. She looked at her Otou-san, who looked at her, then at the Gaara boy, then back. She understood, and broke away from her Otou-san to cover the short distance between her and the other child. He took a step back, then stopped and waited awkwardly for her to reach him. She smiled hesitantly, she'd heard silly stories from the kids in the park about a boy called Gaara, they said he was a demon, but if her Otou-san was being nice to him, why should she believe them? Everyone was scared of demons, right, so why would her Otou-san be smiling at the Gaara boy if he was a demon?

"Hello," she offered after staring at him for a moment.

He stared back at her as though he'd never seen a girl before, and his mouth moved like he was trying to talk, but couldn't. She smiled, and giggled softly.

"I'm Hisoka," she said, a little louder this time, looking at him curiously; he had funny marks around his eyes.

He still stared, and she began to get annoyed, he was rude! She was looking at his eyes, and noticed that he was confused, and wondered if he knew what he was supposed to say.

"You're supposed to say your name too, silly," she giggled.

"H-hai?" he asked, a questioning lilt to his voice. "I'm Gaara."

"You're my cousin."

"Cousin?"

"That means that you're my Otou-san's nephew, and my Oba-san's son," she explained. "Don't you know anything?"

He blushed a little, and looked away. She frowned, and tried a different approach.

"Do you like the swings?"

"Yeah."

There was almost a question in his voice, but she ignored it, and took his hand, pulling him towards the swings. He stumbled a little, eyes wide open as she did so, and his hand shifted in hers as though confused as to what exactly it meant. It was strange, holding a boy's hand, at least, that's what the girls who she'd seen at the park before said. They said it meant you were supposed to kiss him, but that was silly. Gaara was her cousin, and besides, he was a boy, why would you kiss a_ boy_? She liked it, she supposed, because his hand was the same size as hers, not big like her Otou-san's and her Okaa-san's.

She sat on one of the two swings, and waited for him to sit on the other, which he did, looking unsure.

She started to swing, and he watched her as she swung higher and higher, her feet pointed towards the sky. Finally, she realised that he wasn't doing it too, and looked at him in confusion.

"What're you sitting there for?" she asked, tilting her head again. "Come on, you look like you've never been on a swing before."

He looked at her silently, then spoke.

"I've been on a swing before," he said a little defensively. "Why're you doing that though?"

"What do you mean?"

"With the swing, moving like that. It looks dangerous."

"Silly! That's what you're _supposed _to do on a swing!"

He looked confused still, so she skidded to a stop in the sand, and ran around behind him.

"Alright, Gaara-kun," she said, grasping the chains in her petit hands. "I'm gonna give you a push, then you gotta swing your legs like I was before. Did you see me?"

He nodded slowly, and gave and experimental kick as she pushed the first time. His eyes widened as he swung a little more than he usually did. He'd seen a few kids swinging like this before, but had thought they were just being silly. He usually sat on them, and when he didn't, the other kids ran when he got too close, so he never realised that this was what you were supposed to do.

He followed Hisoka's instruction when she gave another push, this time on his back. He was a little startled by the contact, he wasn't used to it after all, but she kept doing it, and every time he swung a little higher than before. He wondered why she didn't find something repulsive about touching him, because the kids didn't even like to touch something he'd touched. He'd wondered if there was something wrong with him touching something, if he had something on him, or in him that made everything he touched feel icky, but she didn't seem to mind.

* * *

Yashamaru watched his daughter play with Gaara, smiling brightly, and treating him like any other kid. He was a little worried, if she wasn't careful, and Gaara accidentally came of the swing and hurt himself, the Shukaku might get angry, but he supposed that the sand would protect the boy anyway. Other than that, he was worried, in a small part of his mind, that she'd be somehow tainted by being near him. 

He sighed. He'd tried to convince the Kazekage that he needed the afternoon free of anything, because he wanted to see his daughter. Once a week, he got to see her, and he wanted that one day, and night as she often stayed overnight, free from his responsibilities as Gaara's caretaker.

He found himself reflecting bitterly that he got to spend more time with the cause of his beloved sister's death than with his own dear daughter. He loved his daughter a great deal, and he had wanted her to go as long as possible without encountering Gaara. However, it seemed that what he wanted, he rarely got, as the Kazekage had told him that no, he would not be allowed to 'shirk' his duty. Yashamaru didn't want anything adverse to happen to Hisoka, and therefore keeping her away from Gaara was a priority.

Still, it was nice to see her (and, he admitted grudgingly, Gaara) happy. Hisoka didn't really play with other kids much, probably because she didn't have many to interact with at home, and she preferred to spend her time in this district with him. She was always so excited to see him, always bubbly and giggling and wanting to do something fun together, something not many people were anymore. People seemed to think that he was cursed, or as much a demon as Gaara, and so avoided him. There were a few, precious few, who didn't, and who talked to him, but his duties always kept him from forming real friendships.

He became aware of voices, both children and adult, near the edge of the playground, and turned slightly. The children were staring at Hisoka and Gaara, while the parents muttered and glanced from the unaware duo to Yashamaru. Tensing, he watched as the parents allowed their kids to go play, but from the way they avoided the swings, it was clear that they had been told not to approach Gaara, or feared doing so.

"That's rather irresponsible," a woman in her early forties sniffed, approaching. "Letting that demon child play with an innocent little girl. Her parents will be horrified."

"Pardon me, Ma'am, but I'm her father, and I do not see him hurting her, do you?"

She gave him a disgusted look.

"Fools like you shouldn't be allowed to have children," she hissed vehemently. "That poor girl, she probably wont live to see nine birthdays."

Yashamaru glared, but remained calm; years of keeping a kind face in front of Gaara when all he could see was his sister's agonised, furious face had helped. However, when the woman continued, his temper flared.

"Poor thing, I expect her mother was a common slut," she sneered. "Probably a drug addict. I really ought to file a report against you for child endangerment."

"Ma'am, that was out of line," he said tightly; how dare she call Hotaru a slut. "My daughter is in no danger, and if she were, I wouldn't be standing here taking this from a woman who does not know a thing about what she speaks of."

With that, he walked around her, and to the swings, where the two cousins had stopped, and were watching the other children curiously.

* * *

The other children glared at them, and Hisoka was confused. Gaara didn't seem to be, he was just quiet and kept his head down sadly. She stopped pushing the swing, and watched the other children, and soon he joined her. 

The other children were all silly, they were playing on the other side of the park like there was no park where she and Gaara were; silly things.

Her Otou-san was talking to a short, brown-haired lady, and he didn't look too happy; why was that lady making her Otou-san unhappy? Otou-san was nice, and he never made people upset!

Frowning, she began to walk towards her Otou-san, who was walking towards her now; shyly, Gaara followed her.

"Tou-san," she whined, hugging his leg. "Come push Gaara-kun, I wanna swing too!"

Her Otou-san smiled, but his eyes didn't smile.

"Gomen, Hisoka-chan," he stroked her messy hair. "But I think we should go do something else."

She pouted, looking up at him with her best puppy-eye look. Her Otou-san just laughed lightly, and pried her off his leg.

"Come on, Hisoka-chan, Gaara-sama, we'll go do something else," he scooped her up, and set her on his hip, then took Gaara's hand, and led them away from the mean lady, who was giving her Otou-san a mean look.

Hisoka looked over her Otou-san's shoulder, met the lady's eyes, then stuck her tongue out, before looking away, giggling at her daring. Gaara looked at her with wide eyes all the time her Otou-san led them from the park, and barely blinked. She watched him, glancing rather obviously every now and again. It was like he was scared she'd disappear or something!

After they'd left the park, she began to squirm, and her Otou-san put her down, setting her feet on the ground and letting her run ahead.

Gaara stayed at his side, and watched her with a strange expression, one that confused her.

"Ne, ne, Gaara-kun!"

She grabbed his wrist, and pulled him along behind her.

"Come on, I'll race you."

Her Otou-san laughed. "Hisoka-chan, you don't even know where we're going."

She stopped, and shuffled her feet, blushing.

"Anou... where are we going?"

Her Otou-san frowned.

* * *

"Anou... where are we going?" he looked at his daughter, her hand still wrapped around Gaara's wrist, slowly sliding down to hold his hand. 

He frowned at this; they were getting along well, but he was concerned about what would happen when Hisoka had to go home, there was the constant risk of Gaara becoming violent, or giving into the Shukaku's influence as he did when the children rejected him at the park. He hated to admit it, but the woman had been right, he was being irresponsible, and he probably didn't deserve to be a father; he was terrible at it. Mentally deciding that he'd deal with the problems as they arose, and if necessary, wean Gaara off her presence, he answered her.

"How about we go back to Gaara-sama's house, and you two can play there?"

Hisoka considered this, tilting her head. Then nodded enthusiastically.

"Ne, Gaara-kun, where's your house?"

Gaara smiled slightly.

"It's this way."

He began to walk, pulling her along carefully. When she didn't protest, he began to run, and Hisoka followed eagerly.

* * *

"Uwaa!" 

Hisoka laughed, her eyes wide as she took in Gaara's personal playroom. The Kazekage supplied the boy with all the toys he could ever want, but the boy rarely used them. Hisoka, however, was fascinated and enthralled by the sheer amount, and was already hurrying around, examining everything she could reach. Gaara watched her.

Gaara always seemed to watch, only watch. His eyes would observe, but his presence would never touch.

Hisoka's presence seemed to touch everything in the room when she entered it, and her eyes rarely observed.

"Gaara-kun," she held up a board game. "Let's play!"

The red-head's lips twitched in some sembalence of a smile, and he nodded unsurely, sitting opposite the girl at a children's table (the previously cluttered surface had spontaneously cleared); Hisoka pulled the board out of the box under the eyes of her Otou-san and her smiling cousin. She set the board and the pieces on the table, and the two began to set it up.

"No, no, Hisoka-chan, Gaara-sama," Yashamaru laughed, squatting beside them and carefully disassembling what little they'd done. "You set it up as you go. I'll show you how to play, now pick a mouse..."

The children did just that.

* * *

**Authors Notes **

**I know there were some characterisation issues, but this was just an idea that kept bugging me. Hope you enjoyed, I'd love some feedback. Ah, and also, the reason that Yashamaru called her 'his secret' and the reason that she referred to herself as a secret is that the name 'Hisoka' means 'secret'.**

**Would you like me to continue this? I have some ideas for more chapters, but I don't really see the point in continuing something if no one's interested in reading it.**

**Hm... in case you didn't realise, the game they were about to play at the end was Mouse Trap. I couldn't think of something better when I wrote it, and I rather like the way the ending fit together.**

**Sorry for jumping around so much throughout this, hope it wasn't too bad.**

**Tess **


End file.
